I know you like visiting parks, would you like to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River Tim asked? While we were camping with our friends at Stony Point Campground on Lake Leech we just had to make the side trip to nearby Itasca State Park, the Headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi. A little more than an hour drive away, Itasca State Park lies 1475 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, 2552 winding river miles away. The park is also contains a significant amount of old growth Red and White Pines which is the reason the park was established in 1891. I stopped in at the park headquarters and introduced myself to the park manager. We had a good talk about his park and I was surprised to learn that the lodge and restaurant are all staffed by state employees, nothing is outsourced. And that like many parks’ the funding sources can be problematic. Park people talk the same language wherever they are from.

I felt guilty all the time I was driving through Iowa, a small gnawing at the back of my neck, the cheerful voice of a good friend in my ear, good times spent together at PLEA conferences of past remembered, a sadness or disappointment within. PLEA is an organization that brings park professionals together with common goals and objectives. It’s where I met Dan Krone many years ago, one of our past Board of Directors. Dan served his career as a Ranger with the Army Corp of Engineers working in Iowa ACOE parks and as member of their emergency relief teams deployed to disaster areas across the country and US territories. Dan retired a few years ago and we miss his sage advice and hard work. I regret that we didn’t plan enough time for a visit with a good friend. Dan; another time when we can plan a quality visit. Working our way ever north we stopped in the Minneapolis area to meet with Fred McCormick (Minneapolis Park Police) one of our Past Presidents and with Chief Hugo McPhee (Three Rivers Park District) our current President. Most PLEA members who regularly attend our annual conferences have developed professional contacts with other members. We not only learn from but we make lifelong friends with PLEA associates. Fred is a professional contact that has become a good friend over the years. That evening Fred picked us up at the campsite and drove us to a nice restaurant on a lake that he had made reservations for. We had a great visit and the walleye with local wild rice soup was superb. Chief McPhee recommended we camp at one of his parks, Baker Park Preserve. One of Three Rivers Park District parks with camping facilities, and we were impressed. ‘Three Rivers Park District is a "special park district" serving the suburban areas of the Twin Cities metro Minnesota including suburban Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, and Scott and Ramsey counties. The mission of Three Rivers is, "To promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system." Three Rivers currently operates twenty parks and ten regional trails, with at least two more planned regional trails. Nearly seven million people visit Three Rivers facilities each year.’ The park has more than 200 sites; all of the facilities are first class. Everything I saw in this park is top shelf, first class, and the best we have seen anywhere! The park is located on Lake Independence and offers more than 2,700 acres with camping, golf, cross-country skiing, and much more. The campsites are large and level. They pay attention to details. I was very impressed to see uniformed Law Enforcement Park Police, both patrolling in vehicles and on foot through the camping area at sundown.

We hadn’t thought of staying that long. Not that we have a structured travel agenda because we don’t. It’s more like an idea free of obligations, no reservations that require we be at a certain place on a specific date. But after camping a few days with friends on the shore of Lake Leech we just didn’t want to leave so soon, so we camped there for six nights. We were enjoying visiting and fishing with friends, birding and the area,,, well the area made me feel at home although I had never been to Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. The further we traveled north the more obvious it became that Minnesota is an outdoors wonderland with fishing opportunities everywhere and Lake Leech is a premier attraction. The lake is HUGE! In some places you can’t see across to the opposite shore. While there are houses and cabins along the shore in places, it’s not over developed and retains a wooded outdoors ambiance. From Wikipedia; the forest covers 666,623 acres. Water is abundant, with over 1,300 lakes (including Leech Lake), 923 miles of rivers and streams, and 400,000 acres of wetlands. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to fish four different times with our friend Tim on his Lund fishing boat. And what a nicely rigged fishing machine it is too. Lake Leech is recognized for its Walleye fishery. Although I am still looking forward to catching a mess of fresh Walleye Fillets the Northern Pike didn’t let me down. They are a thrill on ultra-light six lb test line, and thank you Sis for fixin them just right and for the locally harvested Wild Rice.

Our next park visit was Moraine View State Park, a short drive off the highway outside of LeRoy, Illinois farm country. This was just another brief visit for an overnight stop on our way north but the geologic feature was intriguing and invited exploration. The park is a forested oasis, complete with a small fishing lake; a refuge too many Canadian Geese nestled among the endless corn fields of the region. A uniformed Park Ranger was not found at this park, but three campground host were evident at the campground entrance.

In another time long ago, I suspect that explorer Daniel Boone hiked this way. Dropping down from the Highcountry of the North Carolina Mountains and winding our way along the shoreline of scenic Watauga Lake in Tennessee, we crossed the Cumberland Gap through the tunnel to find ourselves in Kentucky. It’s been a long time since I last visited a Kentucky State Park, but I have found memories of camping with my son Erick joined by my sister and her family many years ago in a few of their state parks. Fort Boonesborough State Park is another fine example that the Kentucky Park Service knows how to manage Parks and put ‘Service’ into park management. While it was a brief visit of only one night camping while enroute north it was evident in the small details important to RV campers. The campsites are level, large, clean, and well maintained. Campground host sites were obvious but uniformed Rangers or Park Police staff was not found during our brief visit. If we had more time or if we had planned ahead we would have liked to visit their historic site with first person interpretation and Rangers dressed in period clothing. We will plan another visit for the future.

Here we go again! My wife Annette and I have started our summer travels with one of the objectives of visiting parks, meeting park people along the way, and promoting our Park Law Enforcement Association. We will look at park law enforcement issues, visitor safety concerns, park management practices or lack thereof, and share our views with you using this format. I must admit that I had lost interest in reporting and posting here because,,, well frankly I didn't think you were interested. That is until many of you reached out to me and convinced me otherwise. I received emails that said "my wife and I just retired from the park service and we are traveling to Alaska just like you did a few years ago. Your blog inspired us, thanks!" and another Ranger said, "I enjoyed reading your blog, and following your visits to parks". Another Ranger from Ohio told me twice he liked reading the blog, and asked why I had stopped". Thank you Bill, 10-26, I received your message. This time I respectfully request your help to steer me in the right direction. Here's my request. Share your opinion with us and tell me which parks we should visit and what to see along the way. Give me your advice and share your experiences and expertise so we may maximize our park visits. We are starting at the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park near Blowing Rock North Carolina and heading to Minnesota, then turning west to North Dakota where we plan to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park. From there we’ll head north through Saskatchewan Canada up to Alaska. The Blue Ridge Parkway (http://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm) is one of America’s favorite National Parks; it certainly is one of ours. Besides having close friends, family and property near to the parkway we love the spectacular vistas encountered while driving along the roadway following the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. The camping, and picnic areas are plentiful and located in perfect settings, they are well maintained but showing their age and need a little redesign, but then so do many or rather most of our national parks camping areas. The focal point of the parks facilities being the roadway, I am impressed at how well the park maintains the 469 miles (755km) of road and preserves the CCC construction design theme. The Appalachian Mountains are rich in American cultural and the park does a wonderful job bringing our history alive with many visitor centers and cultural or historic sites located along the Parkway. During our recent visit to the area we spent a few days exploring a few of our favorite spots. Being it’s so early in the beginning of the summer season I was surprised to find the Linville Falls visitor center parking area completely full, but the picnic area had several tables available albeit none alone the river. That same afternoon we wanted to picnic at Wilson Creek Overlook where we have enjoyed star gazing the night skies with little light pollution, but the lack of tables didn’t dissuade us but the height of the un-mowed grass did. But I understand that mowing operations on the Parkway are getting back to schedule after being suspended pending the outcome of an investigation after a fatal accident involving one of their maintenance employees. We were saddened to learn of the loss of one of the staff. It was on another day trip that we stopped in at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The site preserves the country estate of Moses Cone, a prosperous textile entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist of the Gilded Age. Its centerpiece is Flat Top Manor, a gleaming white 20-room, 13,000 square foot mansion built in 1901 in the grand Colonial Revival style. Twenty-five miles of carriage trails wind through the fields and forests of the 3,500-acre estate. The trails are available to horse drawn carriages, horseback riding, and hiking. The Craftsman's Trail is a 20-minute loop walk around the Manor which the Cones are said to have walked together every morning. The estate also contains a family cemetery and a carriage and apple barn. Moses Cone's interest in nature and conservation led him to plant extensive white pine forests and hemlock hedges (at the advice of friend and noted conservationist Gifford Pinchot), build several lakes stocked with bass and trout, and plant a 10,000-tree apple orchard. The Manor is now the home of the Parkway Craft Center, one of five shops of the Southern Highland Craft Guild which features handmade crafts by hundreds of regional artists. Throughout the season, local artists demonstrate crafts such as quilting, embroidery, weaving, pottery, glass-blowing, and woodcarving on the front porch of the Manor. It was our good fortune that craftsman Jeff Neil was conducting a demonstration on the front porch building Shaker Boxes and explaining his craft to inquisitive minds asking questions, I being one of many enthralled with his work.

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As we travel our world visiting parks, meeting others in our profession and introducing them to the benefits of the Park Law Enforcement Association. We'll share adventures by way of this blog.. Please check back from time to time to see what we have been up to.. Oh, and plesae leave a comment so I know someone is enjoying these....